Category Archives: Uncategorized

Another Dream…Another Plan

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In the interest of not waiting for our dreams to happen, Jeremy and I recently executed another one of our “plans.”  Because we dream of being able to take off and discover the many hidden gems in our state and country, we decided to start by exploring yet another back road.

The picnic got packed, the tank got filled, Roxy took her position in the back seat of the truck, and off we went, in search of another mountain lake.

We ventured into the mountains to an out of the way Idaho reservoir, where I spotted an eagle having a bit of lunch.

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From there, we climbed up a US Forest Service road to the top of the world, until we arrived at Trinity Lake, a beautiful little alpine lake in the Boise National Forest.

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If you look closely, or zoom in, you’ll see the cow moose having a little salad lunch in the shoreline waters on the other side!

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I tried to take a selfie with the moose, but missed the moose entirely!  What can I say…the sun was in my eyes!  We had a nice lunch and enjoyed the afternoon, but sadly we needed to start the trip back to avoid traveling down steep mountain roads in the dark.

Jeremy is so patient with me each time I yell, “Stop!” because I’ve spotted some kind of eye candy like this splashy little creek in the afternoon sun.

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It was a step in the right direction, not waiting for every little detail in order to pursue our dreams.  But it made us even more determined to move the plan forward.  If we had been in our dream travel van, we would have been able to stay longer and travel farther from home.  How delicious it will be to pull out the chairs, pop a bottle of wine and view the stars from a location such as this.

Needless to say, we now have multiple salesmen hunting for the travel van which meets our specific requirements, and I’ve spent way too much time on line researching.  We’re getting close to pulling the trigger.  Stay tuned!

Lynn

Encore Quotes – Insomnia

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I know I don’t usually post a quote on a Sunday, but I’ve had so many comments lately about how much I’m reading that I couldn’t resist!  I’m that kind of girl who says, “Just one more page.”  Then 10 minutes later says, “Just one more chapter!”

My wish for all of you today as that you find some time to cuddle up with a great, juicy book that just grabs you and doesn’t let go!  Happy Sunday!

Lynn

Encore Quotes ~ Find Time for Reading

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Hey there voyagers!  I’ve spent a great deal of time this week thinking about books and reading.  For myself, I’ve been staying up waaaaay too late reading, and I’ve just finished my 6th book of the new year.

I also spent time talking with a young friend whose 4th grade son does not like to read.  I put together a grade level appropriate list of some of the best children’s books I could think of.  A child who is not motivated to read is either struggling, or has not experienced the right book!  What fourth grade boy would not be enthralled by the idea of owning a pet Grizzly bear (Gentle Ben by Walt Morey), or by the thought of living alone in a hollowed out tree and training a falcon! (My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George)

The best advice I could give her for developing a young reader is to read TO him!  Aloud, and snuggled up in the most comfortable place she could find!  I always told the parents of my students that their job was to keep the love of the book alive! Reading aloud to children helps them develop the imagination necessary for independent comprehension.  And the right books will get them hooked!

And then I got to thinking about my fellow retirees.  Are there any young people in your lives to whom you could read aloud?  To whom you could give the very special gift of your time and reading expertise?  Is there someone for whom you could light the reading fire?

Have a great weekend, and enjoy reading a wonderful book!  I know I will!

Lynn

By the way, can find me on Goodreads here.

The New Year’s Paper Work Flood!

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Some people start diets, some people make resolutions to get fit, to eat right, to save more money.  I don’t know what happens to me, but I become a paperwork fiend!

I must admit that I am an organizational guru!  If you were to blindfold me, stand me at my front door, and ask me to put my hands on pretty much anything in my home, I’d be able to find it…unless it is made of paper.

I think it happens as a result of preparing for the next tax year.  Time to file the remainder of the last year’s bill statements, and purge the files to prepare for 2018.  But one thing always leads to another.  I start filing one thing, and then end up cleaning out another storage box.  That, in turn, leads to cleaning out the top drawer of my desk – gotta organize those paper clips, ya know – which leads to cleaning out the other desk drawers.

Wait…what is on all of these flash drives?  I certainly don’t need to keep student data from 10 years ago, and hey – this one is full of photographs!  Yikes – They need to be backed up to the cloud!  Guess what I’m doing right this minute!

And now that I think about it, what is in all of these computer files?  Time to do some deleting…and what about Dropbox – there’s lots of stuff in Dropbox that I surely no longer need, just taking up space…and One Note – what about that?!!!

By the time I’m done, I’ll have this place will be ship-shape.  But did I mention that I have not yet taken my Christmas decorations down?

Lynn

Encore Quotes – The Day’s Resolutions

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A weird year!  It’s just seemed like a weird year for New Year’s reflection! Usually I’m all about analyzing my past 12 months, thinking about the future, figuring out my “word,” deciding what I’d do differently in the upcoming months.

This year, I got NUTHIN!  Nada! Zip! Zilch!  I tried to come up with goals and resolutions and all that stuff, just like the rest of the world.  But for reasons I don’t understand, nothing significant came to mind!

Then a friend posted this saying on Instagram, and bam!  There it was – the thing that I was looking for.  I’ve been journaling lately, writing things I’m grateful for, and trying to be more mindful.  I’m adding an item that Pat suggested, over at Retirement Transitions, “What is the most important thing I did [yesterday]?”  Brilliant, huh?  Thanks, Pat! But now I’ll be also be considering this:

What do I resolve to do TODAY?

I just didn’t want to make great big, year-long goals, that would end up abandoned or forgotten by the third week in January.  I may not be able to stick to the resolution to lose a gazillion pounds.  But I’m pretty sure I can decide to eat a salad for dinner.  Baby steps.  Call a friend.  Go for a walk.  Do some yoga today.  Yeah, I can make those resolutions stick!  Have a wonderful, mindful weekend!

Lynn

Encore Quotes – It’s Supposed to Be Hard!

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I thought it would be easy.  After all, I play the piano!  Eighty eight keys, 10 fingers, I already read music – in fact multiple lines of notes at a time.  How hard could it be to play an instrument that produces one note at a time in about a 3 or 4 octave range???  Yeah, right!

The saxophone…that half-marathon…a new business…learning a language – Whatever your thing is, remember hard is what makes it great!  Have a wonderful weekend doing the hard things!

Lynn

Retirement – What will you learn next?

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A few days ago, “Sparky” over at Mr. Fire Station posted a list of the five stages of retirement.  In the third stage, the Bloomberg graphic claims that you need to be prepared for the boredom which will inevitably set in.  I voiced my opinion in my comment on his blog, and I will say it again now…

That’s bull pucky!

We live in a great big, vast world in which you have learned exactly 0% of all of the things out there to be discovered!  Even the inside of your own mind is endless!  (I admit, I read that somewhere!)  But it’s so true!  Anything that even remotely peaks your interest is yours for the taking, and in this Encore Voyage, you have nothing if not time to pursue those interests.

For me, I have found that each time I decide I want to learn something new, it keeps leading me to the next thing, and I can’t decide what I should try next!  In fact, I keep finding that I don’t have enough time to tackle all the things I want to try!  That age old expression, “When did I find time to work?” is certainly true!

What do you want to learn today-

Take, for example, my saxophone.  A few years back, commented that I wanted to play a second, more portable musical instrument.  I already play the piano, but it’s a little difficult to pack up and take to a party!  My piano teacher advised me that I have the “attitude of an alto sax player” whatever that’s supposed to mean, and now I’m the proud owner of a beautiful alto sax.  I’m committed to one day playing that sucker!  Right now, I’m at the “squawking like I’m calling geese” stage, but I will improve with practice and time.

The point is, in retirement, especially in this internet age, you can learn to do pretty much anything you put your mind to…So I ask youWhat will you donow that you're donedoing what you did-Instead of sitting around being bored and waiting for the next stage to arrive, how about you ask yourself some questions:

What’s next?

What are my goals?

What do I want to learn, do, or be?

Is there anything that I’ve always wanted to try?

Where do I see myself in the next 10 years?

Because, my friend, if you don’t pay attention, you will let your retirement years slip away. You will sleep in, watch TV, play computer games, go out to lunch with friends, play golf, babysit those grand kids, and before you know it, a couple of decades will have passed, and I don’t want you to get to the end of it asking, “Is that it???”  Because the only path to a rich, rewarding and vigorous retirement requires some soul searching, self-reflection, and learning new things!

Lynn

Blindness by Blogging

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I felt the same way as NiftyFiftyShades when I started wearing glasses full time. Not, not, not gonna wear glasses on a chain around my neck! (Heavens no, only OLD teachers do that!). And besides, what can be bad about pics of dogs wearing glasses on a Saturday morning! Have a great weekend, everyone!

NiftyFiftyShades

imageOptician:   That comes to  Eur 638.75

Me:             Are they 24 carat solid gold?

Optician :  No

Me:              Are the diamond encrusted?

Optician:   No.

Me:              Have they been hand crafted by nymphs.

Optician:    No.

Me:              Have they been lovingly buffed by French nuns.

Optician:    No

Me:              But they are nice and designery…

Optician:   Yes.

imageMmm!! Which to choose.  Blindness or spectacles

imageMy blog is almost three months old.  It began as a technical challenge, playing about with WordPress, trying different themes, mucking about with plugins, most enjoyable.  Now that I’ve acquainted myself with the wondrous mysteries of the Twitter machine I’m addicted.

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Only problem is, my eyes are sore.  The dreaded day has arrived, I must wear spectacles full time.   I’ve managed until now with glasses just for reading.  I’m perfectly happy to go about my business half blind rather than cave in and wear glasses full time .  It…

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